All the Little Liars

Aurora Teagarden is basking in the news of her pregnancy when disaster strikes her small Georgia town: four kids vanish from the school soccer field in an afternoon. Aurora's 15-year-old brother, Phillip, is one of them. Also gone are two of his friends and an 11-year-old girl who was just hoping to get a ride home from soccer practice. And then there's an even worse discovery - at the kids' last known destination, a dead body.

Trouble in High Heels

When Brandi Michaels discovers her fiancé hopping a flight to Vegas to marry his girlfriend, she pawns her engagement ring, buys herself a fabulous outfit, and spends one sultry night in the arms of a gorgeous Italian stranger named Roberto Bartolini. When Brandi becomes the mark for a killer, she has no choice but to turn to Roberto – a man who’s destined to be either her savior or her downfall. But one thing’s for sure: She’s not going down without a fight.

Grave Sight: Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1

Grave Sight draws listeners into the intriguing world of Harper Connelly, a woman with a unique gift: she can "see" the deceased and how they died. A teenage girl from a small Ozarks town is missing and feared dead. Hired by local police, Harper locates the girl's body in a nearby forest. But there's more than one corpse in those woods, and the second one raises questions no one wants to ask.

Killer Instinct

Lane is a typical teenager - loving family, good grades, after-school job at the local animal hospital, martial arts enthusiast - but her secret obsession is studying serial killers. She understands them, knows what makes them tick. Why? Because she might be one herself. Lane channels her dark impulses by hunting criminals - delivering justice when the law fails. The vigilantism stops shy of murder. But with each visceral rush the line of self-control blurs. And then a young preschool teacher goes missing - only to return in parts.

The Mermaid's Sister

There is no cure for being who you truly are.… In a cottage high atop Llanfair Mountain, sixteen-year-old Clara lives with her sister, Maren, and guardian Auntie. By day, they gather herbs for Auntie's healing potions. By night, Auntie spins tales of faraway lands and wicked fairies. Clara's favorite story tells of three orphan infants—Clara, who was brought to Auntie by a stork; Maren, who arrived in a seashell; and their best friend, O'Neill, who was found beneath an apple tree. One day, Clara discovers shimmering scales just beneath her sister's skin.

The Accidental Alchemist

Unpacking her belongings in her new hometown of Portland, Oregon, herbalist and reformed alchemist Zoe Faust can't help but notice she's picked up a stowaway. Dorian Robert-Houdin is a living, breathing three-and-half-foot gargoyle - not to mention a master of French cuisine - and he needs Zoe's expertise to decipher a centuries-old text. Zoe, who's trying to put her old life behind her, isn't so sure she wants to reopen her alchemical past... until the dead man on her porch leaves her no choice.

True Detective: Nathan Heller Series, Book 1

When Mayor Cermak’s “Hoodlum Squad” brings Heller along on a raid with no instructions but to keep his mouth shut and his gun handy, he becomes an unwitting, unwilling part of a hit on Al Capone’s successor, Frank Nitti. As a result, Heller quits the force to become a private eye. His first job: head off a nation-shaking political assassination in Miami Beach. With the Chicago World’s Fair as a backdrop, Heller encounters a ragtag array of crooks and clients, including Al Capone, George Raft, “Dutch” Reagan, and FDR himself.

The Dead Key

It's 1998, and for years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved, its secrets only speculated on by the outside world. Twenty years before, amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors sold Cleveland's largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers and employees and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault's safe-deposit boxes were lost.

The Bullet

Two words: the bullet. That's all it takes to shatter her life. Caroline Cashion is beautiful, intelligent, a professor of French literature. But in a split second, everything she's known is proved to be a lie. A single bullet, gracefully tapered at one end, is found lodged at the base of her skull. Caroline is stunned. It makes no sense: She has never been shot. She has no entry wound, no scar. Then, over the course of one awful evening, she learns the truth.

Close to Home

Vowing to make a fresh start, Sarah McAdams has come home to renovate the old Victorian mansion where she grew up. Her daughters, Jade and Gracie, aren’t impressed by the rundown property on the shores of Oregon’s wild Columbia River. As soon as they pull up the isolated drive, Sarah, too, is beset by uneasy memories - of her cold, distant mother, of the half-sister who vanished without a trace, and of a long-ago night when Sarah was found on the widow’s walk, feverish and delirious.

The Silent Girls

Frank Rath thought he was done with murder when he turned in his detective's badge to become a private investigator and raise a daughter alone. Then the police in his remote rural community of Canaan find an '89 Monte Carlo abandoned by the side of the road, and the beautiful teenage girl who owned the car seems to have disappeared without a trace. Soon Rath's investigation brings him face to face with the darkest abominations of the human soul.

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant

Timid, socially awkward, and plagued by self-esteem issues, Fred has never been the adventurous sort. One fateful night - different from the night he died, which was more inconvenient than fateful - Fred reconnects with an old friend at his high school reunion. This rekindled relationship sets off a chain of events thrusting him right into the chaos of the parahuman world.

The Academy: A Short Story

Quitting her job as a high school science teacher to join the Seattle Police Department was an easy decision for Tracy Crosswhite. Years earlier, what should have been one of the happiest days of her life instead became her worst nightmare when her younger sister, Sarah, disappeared. After the murder trial, while her family disintegrated, Tracy turned her heartbreak and her lingering questions into a passion for justice.

Chasing Fire

Little else in life is as dangerous as fire jumping. Flying past towering pillars of smoke, parachuting down to the edge of an all-consuming blaze, shoveling and sawing for hours upon hours, days at a time, all to hold the line and push back against the raw power of Mother Nature. But there’s also little else as thrilling - at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are one of the most exclusive firefighting squads in the nation, and the job is in Rowan’s blood: her father is a legend in the field. She’s been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday.

Mrs Queen Takes the Train

An absolute delight of a debut novel by William Kuhn - author of Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books - Mrs Queen Takes the Train wittily imagines the kerfuffle that transpires when a bored Queen Elizabeth strolls out of the palace in search of a little fun, leaving behind a desperate team of courtiers who must find the missing Windsor before a national scandal erupts.

A Secret Rage

Former New York City model Nickie Callahan is looking forward to the easy life when she moves to the sleepy college town of Knolls, Tennessee. But the women of Knolls are not safe. And as Nickie gets swept up in a string of brutally violent crimes, she must take matters of justice into her own hands.

Shady Cross

In one hand small-time crook Stokes holds a backpack stuffed with someone else's money--$350,000 of it. In the other hand, Stokes has a cell phone, which he found with the money. On the line a little girl he doesn't know asks, "Daddy? Are you coming to get me? They say if you give them the money, they'll let you take me home."

Mycroft Holmes

"When I say, therefore, that [my brother] has better powers of observation than I...I am speaking the exact and literal truth." (Sherlock Holmes). This story occurs when Mycroft, an athletic Cambridge graduate, assists the secretary of State. He becomes embroiled in a mystery in Trinidad based on actual history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a huge Holmesian, seven-foot-two tall, basketball's all-time leading scorer, and a US cultural ambassador. Anna Waterhouse is a professional screenwriter and script consultant.

No Coming Back

Eighteen years ago, Jenna Luckman disappeared, presumed murdered. Her boyfriend, Jake Olson, hasn't been home since. Now he's coming back to find her killer. When a body is discovered at the frozen Hangman Falls, Jake is beset by a snowstorm of anger and revenge. Hounded by grudges and feared by the townsfolk, Jake is determined to uncover the truth behind his girlfriend's disappearance. But he still has enemies in town and they have other plans for him.

The Woods

Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again.

The Cold Dish: A Walt Longmire Mystery

Award-winning author Craig Johnson's critically acclaimed debut Western mystery takes listeners to the breathtaking mountains of Wyoming for a tale of cold-blooded vengeance. Four high-school boys were given suspended sentences for raping a Cheyenne girl. Now, two of the boys have been killed, and only Sheriff Walt Longmire can keep the other two safe.

Menagerie

When Delilah Marlow visits a famous traveling carnival, Metzger's Menagerie, she is an ordinary woman in a not-quite-ordinary world. But under the macabre circus black-top, she discovers a fierce, sharp-clawed creature lurking just beneath her human veneer. Captured and put on exhibition, Delilah is stripped of her worldly possessions, including her own name, as she's forced to "perform" in town after town. But there is breathtaking beauty behind the seamy and grotesque reality of the carnival.

Suspect

LAPD cop Scott James is not doing so well, not since a shocking nighttime assault by unidentified men killed his partner, Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode. He is unfit for duty - until he meets his new partner. Maggie is not doing so well, either. The German shepherd survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives before she lost her handler to an IED and sniper attack, and her PTSD is as bad as Scott’s. They are each other’s last chance.

The Big Sleep

Los Angeles PI Philip Marlowe is working for the Sternwood family. Old man Sternwood, crippled and wheelchair-bound, is being given the squeeze by a blackmailer and he wants Marlowe to make the problem go away. But with Sternwood's two wild, devil-may-care daughters prowling LA's seedy backstreets, Marlowe's got his work cut out - and that's before he stumbles over the first corpse.

Publisher's Summary

Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side - and its crime buffs. One of them is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime - until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss.

As other brutal "copycat" killings follow, Roe will have to uncover the person behind the terrifying game, one that casts all the members of Real Murders, herself included, as prime suspects - or potential victims.

What the Critics Say

"An ingenious plot and sufficient flow of blood keep the pages flying....Harris draws the guilty and the innocent into an engrossing tale while inventing a heroine as capable and potentially complex as P. D. James's Cordelia Gray." (Publishers Weekly)

For any fan of Charlaine Harris, it is first necessary to understand that this first book in a series isn't like her Sookie Stackhouse or Harper Conolly series--nothing supernatural.
Second, it is an earlier work and, while the trademark humor and wit are there, the style and plotting aren't as fully developed as later works.
Third, while many characters are introduced in this book, they are not as well-developed as one might like, but they do turn up again in later books so don't dismiss them.
Fourth, this story and ones that follow are more like a leisurely stroll through a residential neighborhood than a car chase with spectacular crashes. Often, the story is as much a chronicle of Aurora's life as it is a mystery to be solved.
Fifth, Aurora is still finding herself so don't think that the sweet librarian in this book remains static and a fixed character in future books.

There was enough of interest in this first in the series for me to continue with more and it can't be compared to Sookie or Harper. It shouldn't be. It isn't deep, fast-paced, or overly complex. Aurora is not a super-sleuth or the most prudent person you will meet, but she is an interesting enough character for me to find it worthwhile to spend a few hours with as she lives her life and stumbles onto murder scenes.

These books are really fun. After reading all of Charlaine Harris's Sookie books and then all of the Harris's Harper Connelly books, I figured that the Aurora Teagarden series would naturally be next on the list. At first I really thought they were a bit cheesey, but Aurora started to grow on me. While it doesn't have any of the supernatural aspects of the other series and would be more of a PG rating, instead of the maybe PG-13 or R rating of the other series. This is a fun, quirky, easy read. The narrator is great & the character is lovable. After a slow start with the 1st book not knowing what to expect, I began to love the characters that were introduced and re introduced throughout the series, so by the time I got to the 8th book (within a weeks time) I will say each book in this series gets better. The only thing I do not like in the narration is how the mens voices are done. Although it's no big deal, she makes each male character sound like a sniviling nerd.

This is a light, entertaining murder mystery with hints dropped along the way, but I was surprised when I found out who did it. However, in listening the 2nd time, some of the main character's comments are even funnier, now that I know how it ends. This book has me giggling out loud! I've read the second book, and am really looking forward to the others in this series.
Murder scenes are described in some detail, but not enough to keep me from recommending it to anyone easily made squeamish. The characters are described well enough that I feel like I would recognize them if I could meet them, but not in a way to bog down the story.
Highly recommended!

I really enjoy Charlaine Harris as a writer but wasn't sure about how she would do with a straightforward murder mystery, which is how I would classify this book. Turns out I could not go to bed till I found out how it ended. The murderer is not who I thought it was...

I downloaded this book because I was familiar with the author, having listened to the Sookie Stackhouse series and was pleased to discover another series that I can begin to enjoy. This series has no supernatural actors, all 100% human. The main character, Aurora ("Ro") Teagarden, is a single woman who is a member of a murder club. Right at the beginning of the book one of the members of the club is murdered in a way similar to how someone the club had studied was murdered in the past. Everyone in the club is instantly a suspect and all kinds of fun ensues. This book is what I would call a "light" murder mystery. If you were going to give mysteries a rating, I would rate this one PG.

I have been a huge fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris and was happy to see she has another series. Real Murders introduces us to tiny Libraian Aurora Teagarden. She is part of a group which discusses real murders each month and they find themselves the targets of real murders. I enjoyed the cast of characters, each one with a distinct personality and role in the story. The story takes several turns so I was left guessing until the end on the "whodunnit" aspect. Main character Aurora is very likable and a bit adorable with how small and mousey she is.

The narrator does a good job of voicing the characters and delivering in a lively style. I look forward to the next Aurora Teagarden mystery!

When you read the summary you would think that this falls in the genre of a cozy mystery. And if you watched the hallmark movie remake of Aurora Teagarden you will definitely be expecting a cozy mystery. This book is WAY too graphic to fall into that category. I like to listen to my books as I relax and before bed, but some of the murders were written way too gorey. I liked the main character Aurora, but it just had too much gore and not enough charm. As an avid cozy mystery reader I could not finish this book. I tried a few times but every time I had to stop. So just be forewarned of that before buying!

Real Murders has nice writing and a pleasant protagonist but the story was pedestrian. I really liked the True Blood and Grave Sight series but the Real Murders story and side characters were not compelling enough to maintain my interest.